Blue's Clues
Blue's Clues is a daytime children's show which airs on Nickelodeon and now appears on Noggin and several "On Demand" channels. It features live action superimposed upon paper-cutout animation similar to that of South Park. The series was a blue dog, named Blue, through her everyday life, providing small children educational entertainment. However, Blue's Clues is soon to be aired in September 2009 on Nickelodeon's 24/7 sister station Nick Jr.. The Show From 1996 to 2002, Blue's owner was Steve, a non-animated character played by Steve Burns. When Burns chose to leave the show, the character Steve moved away to college and his younger brother Joe (played by Donovan Patton) moved in by coming over to their house to take care of Blue and her friends from 2002 to 2006. The show uses phrase repetition and a minimum of editing in an attempt to avoid confusing its young audience.http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=1900 In a 2004 Blue's Clues episode, The Legend of the Blue Puppy, Blue talks as a fuzzy English-speaking puppet in a segment called Blue's Room. Several direct-to-video DVDs have since been made based around the Blue's Room concept. Blue's Clues was extensively analyzed by Malcolm Gladwell in his bestselling book, The Tipping Point. According to Gladwell, Blue's Clues has been carefully designed, using methods pioneered by Sesame Street, to allow its educational messages to 'stick' in a child's mind. A UK version of Blue's Clues also exists, with Kevin Duala as the host. The original show, dubbed in German, appears on German TV under the title "Blau und Schlau", literally "blue and smartly". Blues Clues was created at Nickelodeon by a creative team led by Angela C. Santomero, who is currently creating similarly advanced children's programming with her partner, Samantha Freeman (also of Nickelodeon), at their new production company Out of the Blue Enterprises LLC. Humongous Entertainment released several PC/Mac games featuring Blue's Clues characters. Controversy On 11 February 2003 Nickelodeon aired an episode of Blue's Clues that was an obvious St. Valentine's Day special, yet was referring to the holiday as "Love Day". Nickelodeon was widely criticized for attempting to evade the Christian connotations concerning the Catholic St. Valentine. Format The format of each episode of Blue's Clues is the same. Steve or Joe will present the audience with a puzzle involving Blue, the animated dog ... To help the audience unlock the puzzle, Blue leaves behind a series of clues, which are objects marked with one of her paw prints. In between the discovery of the clues, Steve/Joe plays a series of games—mini-puzzles—with the audience that are thematically related to the overall puzzle ... As the show unfolds, Steve/Joe and Blue move from one animated set to another, jumping through magical doorways, leading viewers on a journey of discovery, until, at the end of the story, Steve/Joe returns to the living room. There, at the climax of the show, he sits down in a comfortable chair to think—a chair known, of course, in the literal world of Blue's Clues, as the Thinking Chair. He puzzles over Blue's three clues and attempts to come up with the answer. Characters Hosts * Steve: Up until 2002, was the first host of show. Steve's motive for leaving was to attend college. Steve is also Joe's older brother. * Joe: Joe is Steve's younger brother. Starting in 2002, he is the second host. Animated Characters * Blue - A female blue puppy and namesake of the show. On the first episode of Blue's Clues. * Side Table Drawer - A talking piece of furniture that holds the clue notebook; first interacted directly with Steve in "Steve Gets the Sniffles". * Slippery Soap - A talking male bar of soap; debuted in "What Does Blue Need?" * Tickety - A talking alarm clock; first interacted directly and talked with Steve in "What Time Is It for Blue?" * Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper - The French salt and pepper shakers. * Paprika and Cinnamon - Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper's children. Paprika, a girl, debuted and born in "Blue's News"; Cinnamon, a boy, debuted in "The Baby's Here". * Shovel and Pail - Talking sandbox toys; debuted in "Story Time". * Mailbox - Delivers the mail at mail time, first interacted directly with Steve in "Mailbox's Birthday". * Magenta - Blue's best friend, a female pink puppy with round purple glasses; debuted in "Blue's Story Time". * Periwinkle - The next-door neighbor, a talking male blue cat; debuted in "Blue's Big Mystery". *Jodi - He's got the Titan Force 5 debuted in "Blue's Big Girls". * Miss Marigold - Blue's teacher; debuted in "A Surprise Guest". * Emerald - Blue's male friend and classmate; debuted in "Blue's Sad Day". * Orange Kitten - Blue's female friend and classmate; debuted in "Blue's Sad Day". * Purple Kangaroo - Blue's male friend and classmate; debuted in "Blue's Sad Day". * Pink Starfish - Blue's enemy. debuted in "Blue's Sad Day". * Hairbrush * Turquoise - Blue's pet turtle; debuted in "Blue's Birthday". * Polka Dots - Blue's stuffed green puppy with purple polka dots; debuted in "Meet Polka Dots!" * The Felt Friends - Characters who live in a world of colored felt shapes; two recurring Felt Friends are Freddy and Fifi, who debuted in "Blue's Favourite Song". * Moona - A moon fairy who tells what time it is. She has a crescent-shaped body and crescent-shaped pigtails. * Horace - Steve's stuffed anteater; debuted in "Blue's Big Pajama Party". * Boris - Joe's toy duck; debuted in "Joe's First Day". * Charlotte O'Kelly * Bill Vickery * Sprinkles - Blue's younger brother; debuted in "Meet Blue's Baby Brother". Episode list List of Blue's Clues Episodes DVD & VHS Release Season 1 (1998) #Story Time (VHS, 6/9/1998) #Arts and Crafts (VHS, 6/9/1998) #Blue's Birthday (VHS, 9/8/1998) Season 2 (1999) #Rhythm and Blue (VHS, 1/12/1999) #ABCs and 123s (VHS, 1/12/1999) #Blue's Discoveries (VHS, 9/21/1999) #Blue's Big Treasure Hunt (VHS, 9/21/1999) #Blue's Big Pajama Party (VHS, 10/12/1999) Season 3 (2000) #Blue's Safari (VHS, 1/11/2000) #Magenta Comes Over! (VHS, 3/7/2000) #Stop, Look and Listen! (VHS 6/6/2000) #Blue's Big Musical (VHS and DVD, 10/3/2000) Season 4 (2001) #All Kinds of Signs (VHS, 2/6/2001) #Playtime With Periwinkle (VHS, 6/5/2001) #Café Blue (9/4/2001) #Blue's Big Holiday (VHS, 9/25/2001) #Blue's Big News 1:Read All About It (VHS, 11/6/2001) #Blue's Big News 2: The Baby's Here! (VHS, 11/6/2001) Season 5 (2002) #Telling Time With Blue (VHS, 1/29/2002) #Reading With Blue (VHS, 5/7/2002) #Meet Joe! (VHS, 8/27/2002) #It's Joe Time! (VHS, 11/5/2002) Season 6 (2003) #Blue's Big Band (2/4/2003) #Shapes and Colors (VHS, 6/3/2003) #Blue Takes You To School (VHS, 8/26/2003) #Big, Blue and Just for You! Volume 6 (VHS, 11/25/2003) #Blue's First Holiday (VHS & DVD 12/12/2003) Season 7 (2004) #Classic Clues (VHS, 1/27/2004) #Blue Talks (VHS, 8/31/2004) #Bluestock (VHS and DVD, 9/28/2004) Season 8 (2006) #Meet Blue's Baby Brother! (VHS & DVD 8/6/2006) Trivia *A pink snail appears in each episode three times as an extra challenge for older kids. *The "12" on the face of the clock Tickety changes each episode depending on the particular plot at that time. Parody * In the The Fairly OddParents movie Channel Chasers Timmy is running through various television shows. One happens to be called "Clint's Hints", possibly Channel 212 a reference to Blue's Clues. The host is probably a reference of Steve. Note Timmy was a pig, Older Timmy was a duck, and Cosmo and Wanda were a fork and spoon. External links * Blue's Clues on Nick Jr. site * Blue's World (A Blue's Clues fan/information site) * steveswebpage.com (Steve's Web Page, where he is now.) * The Donovan Patton Fan Site (All about the young actor who plays Joe) * Cluesapedia (An entire wikipedia devoted to Blue's Clues) Category:Nick Jr.